Yesterday's Laughter
by RealRainbowRapidash
Summary: With Seto Kaiba, Mokuba's only family, gone forever, the younger, still breathing Kaiba brother, reflects on how he found the one thing to keep him sane: Rebecca Hawkins. Kiddyshipping. R&R, no flames, please. For the YGO Fanfiction Contest, Tier 3


This is what happens after two failed drafts and there is only one day until the due date (I took advantage to ask for an extension.)

Tier 3 Submission for the Yu-Gi-Oh Fanfiction Contest

Pairing: Kiddyshipping (MokubaXRebecca)

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any characters. So don''t sue me. If I DID own this series, then the spin offs wouldn't exist.

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><p>Mokuba sat primly at his desk, typing steadily on a laptop, a mug of coffee beside him. This was the usual scene for him, on a daily basis, from sunrise to sunset; his life was in front of a screen.<p>

It wasn't always like this. He used to laugh, and play, and be a child, and have his older brother to lean on. But here he was, just barely seventeen, the laughter gone, the joy absent, and his brother no longer breathing beside him.

Allowing himself a moment of grief, Mokuba leaned back and closed his eyes, wondering where and how his life had collapsed. In truth, things weren't always so bad: he had money, power, a job, friends, and best of all, a love life. But at times, especially times where he was missing Seto tremendously, everything was hollow. Nothing was worth the bother; the world should be suffering the way he suffered.

He wasn't even old enough to live on his own, and yet here he was, the respected owner of the entire Kaiba Corporation, the empire that his brother has raised from the ashes of their stepfather's creation, making millions, barely aware of any of it. What scared him was that he was almost older than his brother when he'd died; he couldn't get over it.

He wasn't sure if anyone else mourned his death; Mokuba felt that it only hurt him, and hurt him greatly. Perhaps there were others who'd heard that the great, multi-millionaire Seto Kaiba had died, and they felt the type of grief people felt when someone who they didn't really know dies; sympathetic. Probably no one was aware that he'd had a little brother, one who cried, one who mourned, and one who had contemplated disappearing himself.

Seto had been the only family he'd ever known.

When he'd received the phone call that Seto had been in a car accident on his way home from work once, everything had stopped making sense. There was no way Seto Kaiba had died; it was unthinkable. He'd refused to believe it, called the police officer a liar, and hung up harshly. But nothing stopped him from running out into the rain, barefoot with no jacket, to find the car Mokuba knew couldn't possibly be totaled, much less with his brother inside!

And then, when he'd finally regained a hold of his mind, he was at the funeral of the brother that couldn't possibly be dead, had watched the casket that couldn't be Seto's lowered into the ground, and threw down a single white flower that he'd never see. There had been more people there than he could count, most of them employees who were paying their respects to their late employer. But Yugi and his friends had been there, which was ironic given all the hell Seto had tried to wreak over them.

They'd actually shed tears, even Joey, who was known for his bitter rivalry toward Seto, and they'd patted Mokuba on the shoulder and told them they were sorry, and that they'd be there for him if he need them. He'd thanked them, and they were the last people to leave besides him. Once they were gone, Mokuba realized that they'd been the closest things to friends he'd ever had.

And then he met Rebecca, and he hadn't needed friends; he had her.

The day they met was still fresh in his mind, and he played it back to himself to try and expel his grief.

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><p><em>The coffee shop was nearly empty, only two other tables occupied, and the music played softy in the background. He recognized the song as one he'd heard long ago, though he couldn't quite remember where or when, exactly. <em>

_Lately, Mokuba had left like his entire life before had just been one huge mistake. All his mistakes involved his dead brother somehow; all the things he'd failed to tell them, all the things they hadn't gotten to do together, all the times Seto had helped him and had not received a thank you in return, and especially his work. He'd taken over where his brother left off, and was doing poorly._

_Seto had often neglected Mokuba because of all his work, and he'd gotten mad over that. Now he was finally seeing his older brother's point of view._

_Thinking about his brother brought on a fresh wave of sadness and he had to be careful not to start bawling right here in public. At that moment, someone entered the tiny coffee shop. Mokuba looked up, not really interested but wanting to get rid of his thoughts-_

…And she was beautiful.

_She was walking toward his table now, her blond hair flowing behind her like a light, romantic waterfall, and he found himself asking her to join him. She hesitated at first, then rewarded him with a smile and allowed him, reluctantly, to buy her a coffee. _

_There were a few beats of silence, but Mokuba learned several things about her in about five minutes: her name was Rebecca Hawkins, they'd met before, briefly, before she'd grown her hair out and stopped carrying a bear around, she regularly came to Domino and was moving there in a short matter of time, she was fifteen, almost sixteen, she used to be madly in love with Yugi Moto (Mokuba flinched and clamped his mouth shut) she lifted her chin when answering a question, and her blue eyes sparkled when she was pleased with something. _

_When she mentioned that she'd be in college right now if her grandfather had let her, he tested her intelligence and asked her the only trick question he knew. "Which weighs more, Rebecca-" "They both weigh the same thing," she replied, easily cutting him off. When she looked at his flabbergasted expression, she let out a laugh, and while Mokuba before had never thought "love at first sight" was a reality, he'd been proven wrong. _

_They each had another cup of coffee and Rebecca's face lit up when Mokuba murmured, "You know, you're really pretty when you laugh." A faint blushed stained her cheeks, and she looked away. _

"_You're the first boy to ever tell me something like that. And to really mean it," she admitted softly, seemingly disoriented from his innocent statement. She got over it quickly, though, and looked up at him once more with a teasing glow in her eyes. "You do mean it, don't you?" _

_He sensed the doubt seeping into her voice and mutely nodded his head, smiling back at her. Discreetly, but not casually enough for him to dismiss it, she let out a sigh of relief, and thankful expression visible on her face. There were a few beats of silence, In which Rebecca crossed and uncrossed her legs and sipped her coffee while Mokuba simply stared out the window, trying to think of what to say next._

_He need not have bothered; she took care of that. _

"_You looked very sad when I first walked in. Why is that?"_

_Startled, he looked back at her, and realized for once how young she looked for her age. Her bangs fanned gently across her forehead, her blue eyes were even wider, waiting in anticipation, and her chin we resting neatly in her hand, with her elbow and blond locks resting gently on the table between them. _

_He hated it that there was something in between; all he wanted was her embrace and for her to feel his sorrow. _

_She appeared too young to understand; too innocent to be bombarded with the darkness that kept him company. Suddenly, in mid-sentence, Mokuba realized he'd begun to pour his heart out, leaving out nothing, letting the tears flow freely, letting his anger and his pain speak clearly. He cut himself off, right when he was about to tell her about how badly he was failing at his new job and how much he wished it would all just go away, and so he trailed off, taking safety once more in the view. _

_He heard her sniffle, and heard the rustling of the napkins and she took one for herself, and he forced his head to turn so he could face her again. _

_Rebecca's eyes were brimmed with tears, which she tried valiantly to blink away, and she was trembling visibly. How odd; here she was, in need of comfort, when he was the one who's life was falling apart; she'd just been told the story. Taken aback by this reaction, the youngest Kaiba gently took her hand in his, stroking it with the pad of his thumb, before it stopped trembling and her fingers curled around his. _

_She looked up at him, took a deep breath, and forced a trembling smile onto her face. "You said you need help with your work, right?" A curt nod, a confused expression. Her face free of it's previous shattered expression, she gave him another twinkling smile and went on, "Well, I'm sure that I know someone who'd be more than happy to help you with that." _

_Before he could register anything, she was gone, and his ears told him vaguely that she'd said goodbye and to call her anytime before the door to the coffee shop had opened and closed, the bell still chiming cheerfully. Looking down at his hand, Mokuba realized that he was holding a napkin with a cursive, loopy phone number written on it. _

_When he trusted his hand not to shake enough to loosen the bones, he picked up his coffee and took a long sip. The burn in his nose was a friendly, comforting sensation, like how he'd felt holding Rebecca's hand. And for the first time in a while, he did something that had been completely alien for many months: he threw his head back and laughed._

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><p>Mokuba found himself smiling fondly down at his mess of paperwork. Glad to have nice memories to turn to when he need them. Worried that he wouldn't have any more as time went on. Wishing the Rebecca would sweep in through his office door right now-<p>

On an unbelievable cue, she strolled in, not bothering to knock, her presence filling the while room with an invisible joy she radiated. Immediately, he began to ask her why she was happy, when she cut him off by simply telling her. "Mokuba, I'm so happy to see you!" He gave her a typical teasing smile and replied, "You act like it's been years."

She ran around his desk and threw herself into his arms-Mokuba had to plant his feet quickly on the ground to keep the chair from toppling over-and chirped, "I know, but it always _feels _that way! And I'm always so tempted to make you laugh whenever you have the somber expression on your face."

His nose twitched slightly (was it really that obvious when he was upset?) and he was about to come up with some sly retort when Rebecca, sensing this, pressed her lips firmly against his to keep him from doing so.

The kiss was long, and full of heat, and by the time Mokuba had regained something resembling consciousness, she'd pulled away and was steadily filing the papers on his desk. "Now, Mokey, you haven't gotten as much done as you should have. A lot of this is due soon and soon is going to come more quickly than you think." Mokuba rolled his eyes and a small smile formed on his lips; she was adorable when she went professional businesswoman on him.

The smile vanished, however, when she turned back to face him and he realized her luscious blue eyes had widened in concern. "Mokey, is there anything you'd like to talk about to me? About…um…about…you know…" This was still a very delicate subject, and she could never speak out loud about it without clamming up. She regretted having said anything at all, as Mokuba's face crumbled and his head hit the desk, his shoulders losing interest in holding it up.

Heaving a sigh, where earlier she'd have begun to cry alongside with him, she bent down next to him and ran a gentle hand through his hair. She might have told him to try and let go, may even have demanded he stopped crying, if it had been anyone else; after taking this for so long, she'd lost her patience with tears.

But she said nothing, and let him weep; he'd realize that he still had her eventually.

When at last the tears stopped, he dared a look up at Rebecca, afraid that she'd be angry that, once again, she was the rock who had to listen to his sorrows, repeatedly. But when he saw a mischievous look on her face, he instinctively shot up from his chair and ran, laughing right along with her as Rebecca chased him in and out of the room, down the long hallways, before getting close enough to tackle him to the ground in a heap of laughter.

And for the time being, everything was alright, and he closed his eyes, and indulged.

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><p><strong>I hate how this ended; somewhat pleased with everything <em>but <em>the ending. Ah, well, I got it done, and anyway, it's not like I'm gonna win or anything. Unless you guys VOTE FOR ME! /shot**

**Read and Review, please, don't flame me because this was rushed and I had to submit _something. _Anyway, until the next fic, guys!**


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